Evan nodded, though it wasn't nearly enough. It would have to do for now; he could tell that Camelia was holding on to her brave face by a thread, and he gently took her hand to tug her to standing. "See that it does, sir. I would hate to have to bring this matter to my father's attention when we're discussing the Nichol's charitable donations during the next quarterly meeting."
Evan turned on his heel and left the office before Dean Anders could say anything in return, and this time Camelia kept pace with him as they exited the administrative building.
"Did you seriously just threaten your family's funding to the school?" Camelia whispered, her hand twitching a little in Evan's.
He smiled down at her, though it felt a little forced. "Money talks, baby. And now he has an incentive to actually fucking do something."
Chapter eleven
Camelia
"Things are...fine, Dad," Camelia said, barely stuttering over the words as she leaned back in her desk chair.
The rest of the day after the impromptu meeting with the Dean had been exhausting. Camelia had skipped out on the rest of her classes – something that she never fucking did – and let Evan take her home so that she could curl up on her bed and try to rest her racing mind.
Of course, she should have known that she couldn't keep things a secret from her Dad for too long. She had barely woken from a fitful nap, the sky already dim with dusk outside despite the early hour, when her phone rang.
He'd heard about the listing. Evidently an email had been sent out to the rest of the student body as well as the listed parents of students, threatening severe consequences for whoever had posted the list.
Camelia wasn't hopeful that anyone would actually face any repercussions. She remembered the conversation that she'd hadwith Aria during the first few weeks of school; the student population was largely made up of a bunch of spoiled rich kids who got their rocks off by digging into the privates lives of other people.
With that...Camelia supposed that she should be grateful that she hadn't been outed sooner. Not that it made it any easier now.
"Are you sure? I can send someone to the school to move along the investigation." Camelia couldn't help smiling at the indignation in her father's voice, and she shook her head.
"You're overestimating your power, Daddy. Seriously. I'm okay, and moving in with Evan and James...well, they're keeping me safe. I promise."
This time, her voice was sure and steady. It wasn't a lie, and a moment passed before her father sighed.
"I'm sure. I just worry about you." Another moment, and then, "They're treating you well? I know that...Alphas..."
Camelia cut him off before he could continue down that particular train of thought. "Of course, Daddy. I wouldn't choose to stay here if they were mistreating me. Everything is working out exactly like I hoped it would." She paused, chewing the inside of her cheek as she contemplated how much to divulge. She could tell her dad about the run in with the other Alpha, how James had protected her in the middle of campus. How Evan had used his family name and their considerable financial pull to threaten the Dean that very day, all for her.
She settled for a partial truth. "James and Evan have both shown me how far their protection goes, in their own ways, Dad." Slightly movement in the hallway caught her eye, and she offered a smile when James' tall figure leaned against her door frame. "I...I know that the list is a problem, but there isn't really anything that I can do about it."
James' expression was impassive as she looked at him, but she couldn't help the way that her stomach flipped when his hand slowly curled into a fist, then relaxed. God, he had nice hands.
Camelia was vaguely aware of her Dad continuing to talk in her ear, and she shook her head. "Dad, I love you, but this conversation isn't productive. Let's talk soon, okay, once the dust settles a little and you've calmed down. Okay? I love you."
She hung up on him before he could do more than stammer out that he loved her back, and she put her phone face-down on her desk, on silent mode this time. The sun had sunk fully behind the horizon while she had been talking to her dad, and the darkness outside was comforting.
"Is he more concerned about the fact that you've been outed on campus, or that you're living with two big, bad Alphas who could easily take advantage of your vulnerable state where nobody else can see?" James' voice was dry, and Camelia couldn't help laughing a little as he walked into her room.
"Both, I think. But he's always been a bit of a head case." Camelia shrugged, nodding her head at her bed and watching as James followed the silent ask, sitting on the edge of the mattress. "I've learned not to give his moods too much attention."
James shook his head, clasping his hands together on his lap. He looked a tiny bit uncomfortable, sitting on Camelia's bed, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. It was a little odd, Camelia mused. They had done everything it was possible to do in that bed. What possible reason could he have for feeling uncomfortable?
"He's not wrong to be worried. About the list." James' eyes flicked over to her, heavy with an emotion that Camelia couldn't decipher.
Camelia shrugged, standing and pushing away from her chair. She flicked her hair over her shoulder as she walked over to her bed, crawling over to her pillow and lying down. James watchedher, not moving, and Camelia rolled her eyes before she grabbed his hand, yanking until he finally gave in and laid next to her.
"I'm not happy about it, but it was probably just some rich asshole being a bored rich asshole, right?" Camelia reached up and brushed a strand of James' blond hair off his forehead, noticing the barely-perceptible way that his shoulder shook with a soft shudder.
"Maybe." James pressed his lips together, gray eyes intense as he looked at her. After a moment, he reached out and curled his arm around her waist, tugging her closer until their bodies met. Camelia let out a soft sigh at the contact, resting her hand against his chest and feeling his heart thump against the palm of her hand.
"Are you okay?" James' voice was softer, and he finally rested his head against the pillow as he continued to watch her with that deep, unfathomable gaze of his. "Evan said that you were upset."
Camelia sighed, curling forward into his warmth. "Yeah, I was. Still am, I think. It's such a violation." She swallowed, shoving down the words that wanted to leap to the tip of her tongue. Not the time, not the place.
